Central California county jail saving taxpayers over $1M with inmate farm

The Central California Sheriff's Office provides valuable services to inmates, saving county taxpayers millions each year.

Located in the heart of Golden State, Tulea County is a farm leader and pioneer in prison reform, creating a county-owned farm that will feed inmates who have been held in the Tulea County Jail for the past 30 years. is.

“The San Joaquin Central Valley is known for its agricultural products and its ability to grow anything here,” Turea County Sheriff Mike Bodrow told Fox News Digital. “One thing I wanted to start a few years ago is to offset the meaningful costs of feeding inmates every day.”

Boudreaux said high-end could have up to 2,200 prisoners in prisons fed three times a day, so the county began farming their own food provided daily using prisoners. Ta.

Tim Tebou and his wife Demi Leige partner are formerly convicted.

“They created farmland with cattle, pigs, and the ability to grow, and that really becomes the circle of life there.”

Boudreaux added that they have chickens and even harvest their own eggs.

“We grow our own alfalfa. Now, the alfalfa we harvest on 1,100 acres feeds cattle. [300] In addition to 400, there are fallen calves. And what that means is that calves are born and we use those calves to really feed adults for the butcher abilities,” Boudreaux explained.

Furthermore, Boudreaux said all leftovers from the day the prisoners don't eat will turn into “slops” to feed the pigs.

“It's just a big circle of life.”

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Boudreaux said what makes the project even more unique is that they are one of California's only sheriff's departments and have this caliber for inmates.

“One thing is, a lot of sheriffs don't have the farm space to do that. Some sheriffs are too small or too big. We're just like. We're just right That's it,” Boudreaux said.

“Other sheriffs are removing agricultural activities for Proposition 47. They already have labor that meets misdemeanor or criminal status to run some of the agricultural work. Not,” he explained. “We changed some of the standards and allowed certain inmates to come out and work on the farm.

Boudreaux said the department had no plans to remove the program, but when he became sheriff in 2014, there was some struggle and the farm was nearly closed.

“Fortunately, we have overcome hard times to prevent people from being in the facility, so our business has been really hurt for a while, but we have overcome it and have a taxpayer. It's saving. That's important,” Boudreaux said.

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The Tulaire County Sheriff's farm feeds prisoners, saving $1 million a year. (Tulaire County Sheriff's Office)

“I'm financially responsible for the money that comes here, and we save taxpayers somewhere between $1.2 million and $1.6 million each year.”

Not only does the farm save millions of taxes, it also gives prisoners the opportunity to turn their lives around and equip them after release, the sheriff said.

“One focus is to identify inmates eligible for rehabilitation and work programs, to place them in the agricultural business where they learn animal care, to learn harvesting, to learn farm-to-farm-to-table dining tables. – Table type operation.

He added that they even offer a certification program that allows inmates to learn how to enter and become a certified butcher.

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“We have USDA certified staff who teach and certify prisoners so that they can enter the workforce as butchers when they return to the field. They can always go to the grocery store where they are looking for a butcher,” he said.

“And because the central San Joaquin Valley is a massive farming environment, it's better to train these inmates to actually jump into the workforce on the first day of release. In, agricultural operations or animal care work, or slaughter services.”

Boudreaux said their hopes to provide these resources would mean that inmates would not return.

“We want to reduce recidivism, and this is one way we can really work hard to make that happen.”